One purpose of implementing office amenities is to attract potential employees. Maybe more importantly though, it’s to retain the talent you already have. Offering useful amenities is more conducive to creating a positive employee experience than superficial additions.

When you think of office amenities, the first ideas that come to mind are probably cold brew on tap, ping-pong tables, and beanbag chairs. These amenities are nice to have, but they’re more superficial than functional in the workplace. When considering new office additions, you might want to think about what’s going to make a real difference to your employees’ happiness.

We know it’s not possible for everyone to give up their car for their commute, especially for employees who live and/or work in more suburban areas without access to robust public transit systems. But there’s still a way to limit your number of daily drivers coming to the office.

We’ve written about New York City plenty of times before. For good reason! There are nearly nine million people living in the city, commuting every day. The New York City subway system is also one of the largest systems in the world, moving more than four million riders per day. Safe to say, commuting has a major impact on the day-to-day for a lot of people.

Employee benefits may only come to mind for your employees once a year when they have to re-enroll in a new health plan. Unlike health benefits, however, commuter benefits can be updated at any time throughout the year to accommodate behavior change and shifts in habits.  That means you need to make sure they think about how their commuter benefits are working for them, and help them make changes throughout the year.

There are many terms and initiatives in the world of commuting these days. Transportation demand management (TDM), commuter benefits, commute trip reduction (CTR), parking cash-out, and so many more. 

Providing a private shuttle for your employees is a huge benefit to them. Shuttles transport more people in one vehicle, reducing drive-alone commute rates. They qualify for HOV lane access, leading to faster travel times. And they give time back to employees by allowing them to get a head start on their daily tasks during their commute!